2/3 of India's population is engaged in agriculture, with food grains and exports like tea, coffee and spices being important agricultural products. There are three main types of farming practiced in India - primitive subsistence farming on small plots using basic tools, intensive subsistence farming in high population areas using fertilizers and irrigation, and commercial farming using high-yielding seeds and chemicals. Crops are grown in different seasons - rabi in winter, kharif in monsoon, and zaid in between. Key crops include rice, wheat, millets, maize, pulses, sugarcane, oilseeds, tea, coffee, fruits and vegetables, rubber, cotton, jute, and silk. The government has

2.  2/3rd of Indian
population is engaged
in agricultural
activities.
 Food grains are the
most important
agricultural products
made in India
 India exports agro
product s like tea,
coffee, spices, etc.

3.  Primitive Subsistence
Farming
 Practiced on small patches of
land
 Primitive tools like hoe, dao
and digger sticks are used
 Family and community
labour is used
 Farming depends upon
monsoon, natural fertility,,
soil and suitability of other
environmental conditions to
crops grown.
 Practiced in Assam,
Meghalaya, Mizoram,
Nagaland, Manipur, etc

4.  Intensive Subsistence Farming
 Practiced in areas of high
population pressure on land.
 Labour intensive farming
 Biochemical fertilizers and
pesticides used
 Irrigation used for water supply
 Results in high production
 Commercial Farming
 High Yielding variety of seeds
used
 Chemical fertilisers, insecticides
and pesticides in order to obtain
higher production.
 Used in Haryana, Punjab.

5.  Different crops are grown
in different Cropping
seasons
 The three cropping seasons
are rabi, kharif and zaid
 Rabi crops
 are sown in winter from
October to December.
 Crops include wheat, barley
peas, gram and mustard.
 Productivity depends on
winter monsoon.

6.  Kharif crops
 Are sown in onset of monsoon and
harvested in Sep-Oct
 Crops include paddy, maize, jowar,
bajra, tur, moong, urad,etc
 Zaid Crops
 Grown between kharif and Rabi
Crops
 Crops watermelon, muskmelon,
cucumber, vegetables and fooder.

7.  Rice
 Staple food crop of a majority of
people in India
 Second largest producer of rice in
the world.
 It is a kharif crop which requires
high temperature and humidity
with annual rainfall of above 100
cm.
 Grown in plains of North and
North Eastern India, coastal plains
and deltaic regions.
 Canal irrigation and tube wells
made it possible to grow rice in
areas of less rainfall such as
Punjab, Haryana and West Uttar
Pradesh and Parts of Rajasthan.

8.  Wheat
 Second most important cereal
crop.
 Main food crop in the north an
north-western part of the
country.
 Requires cool growing season
and bright sunshine during
ripening and 50-70 cm of annual
rainfall evenly distributed over
the growing season.
 Grown in Ganga-Satluj plains in
North West and black soil region
in the Deccan.
 Major wheat producing states
are Punjab, Haryana, UP, Bihar,
Rajasthan and parts of MP

9.  Millets
 Jowar, bajra and ragi are
important millets grown in India.
 Jowar is third most important
food crop with respect to area and
production and grown Karnataka,
AP and MP.
 Bajra grows well on sandy soils
and shallow black soil and grown
in Rajasthan, UP, Maharashtra,
Gujarat and Haryana.
 Ragi is a crop of dry region and
grows well on red, black, sandy,
loamy and shallow black soil and
is grown in Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu, Himachal Pradesh,
Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Jharkhand
and Arunachal Pradesh.

10.  Maize
 Used for both food and
fodder.
 Requires temperature
between 21C and 27C.
 Requires alluvial soil.
 HYV seeds, fertilizers
and irrigation have
contribute to increased
production
 Major maize-producing
states are Karnataka,
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,
Andhra Pradesh and MP

11.  Pulses
 India is the largest
producer and consumer of
pulses in the world
 Major pulses grown are
tur, urad, moong, masur,
peas and gram.
 Being leguminous crops
they help restore soil
fertility.
 Grown in MP, UP,
Rajasthan, Maharashtra
and Karnataka.

12.  Sugarcane
 India is 2nd largest producer after
Brazil
 Requires 27C temperature and
annual rainfall between 75cms
to 100cms.
 It is a source of sugar, gur,
khandsari and molasses.
 Grown in UP, Maharashtra,
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, AP,
Bihar, Punjab and Haryana.

13.  Oil Seeds
 India is the largest producer
of oil seeds in the world.
 They include groundnut,
mustard, coconut,
sesamum(til), soyabean,
castor seeds, cotton seeds,
linseed and sunflower.
 Used to make edible oil as
well as in the production of
soap, cosmetics and
ointments.

14.  Tea
 Tea is an important
beverage crops.
 Introduced in India by the
British.
 Requires frequent showers
evenly distributed over the
year ensuring continuous
growth of tender leaves.
 Requires abundant and
cheap labor.
 Major tea-producing states
are Assam, Darjeeling and
Jalpaiuri district, West
Bengal, TN and Kerala.

15.  Coffee
 India produces about 4% of the
world’s coffee production.
 Arabica variety is grown in India
that was brought from Yemen.
 Grown in Nilgiri in Karnataka,
Kerala and Tamilnadu.
 India produces about 4% of the
world’s coffee production.
 Arabica variety is grown in India
that was brought from Yemen.
 Grown in Nilgiri in Karnataka,
Kerela and Tamilnadu.

16.  Horticulture Crops
 India is the largest producer of fruits and
vegetables in the world.
 Mangoes are grown in Maharashtra, AP, UP and
WB.
 Oranges are grown in Nagpur and Cheerapunjee.
 Bananas are grown in Kerala, Mizoram,
Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu
 Lichi and Guava are grown in UP and Bihar
 Pineapple are grown in Meghalaya
 Grapes are grown in AP and Maharashtra
 Apples, pears, apricots and walnuts are gown in
J&K and Himachal Pradesh.
 India produces about 13% of worlds vegetable
pea, cauliflower, onion, cabbage, tomato, brinjal
and potato.

17.  Rubber
 It is an equatorial crop grown in
tropical and sub-tropical areas.
 Requires moist and humid climate
with rainfall of more that 200 cm
and temperature above 24 C
 Rubber in an important industrial
raw material.
 Mainly grown in Kerala , TN,
Karnataka, and Andaman and
Nicobar Islands and Garo Hills
Meghalaya.
 India is the 5th largest producer of
world’s natural rubber.

18.  Fiber Crops
 Cotton, Jute, Hemp and natural silk.
 Silk is obtained from cocoons of
silkworms fed in green leaves
specially mulberry.
 Cotton
 India is 3rd largest producer of Cotton
in the world.
 Used to make cotton textile.
 Requires black soil, light temperature,
light irrigation/rainfall, 210 days of
bright sunshine and 6 to 8 months to
mature.
 Grown in Maharashtra, Gujarat, MP,
Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil
Nadu, Punjab, Haryana and UP.

19.  Jute
 Known as golden fiber.
 Grows well on well-drained
fertile soil of the flood plains
where soils is renewed every
year.
 High temperature is required
during the time of growth.
 WB, Orissa, Bihar, Assam and
Meghalaya are the major jute
producing states.
 Used to make gunny bags, mats,
ropes, yarn carpets and other
artifacts.

20.  Collectivisation
 Consolidation of holdings
 Cooperation and abolition of zamindari
 Agricultural Reforms:-
 1.The Green Revolution
 2.The White Revolution

21.  Provision for crop insurance against drought,
flood, cyclone, fire and diseases
 Establishment of Grameen (village) banks,
and cooperative societies.
 Banks for providing loan facilities to the
farmers at lower rates of interest.

22.  Kisan Credit Card(KCC)
 Personal Insurance Accident Scheme.
 Special weather Bulletins and agricultural
programmes were introduced on TV and
Radio
 Announcement of minimum support price.

23. By Raj Quadros, X-A, 25
St. Anthony High School, Majorda-Goa